Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1887-09-07
AMBER IN THE MARKET.
Most of 1t is Cut and Prepared in New
York.


on Nassau Street, with g. shop in the
rear, where more amber is cut
than 10 any other establishment In
New York. Meerschaum is carved
there in great quantities, but amber
is the special object of trade: The
ruling genius of the place is an intelli-
gent man of middle age, who learned
his trade in Vienna, where nearly all
meerschaum and amber carvers are
schooled. He tells you that when
they begin as apprentices they are
frequently sent out to the house Of
some nobleman or magnate to clean
and repair his collection OF pipes.
The collector is not considered OF
much account by the apprentices un-
less he has an assortment OF 100 or
more pipes, some of them very deli
cate and re quiring the utmost care in
handling.
The Nassau Street amber dealer
leads the way into shop In the rear
of his place. 1t is a queer-looking
place full of odd-looking machines, one
of which is a polishing apparatus made
OF rags fastened in circle about the
spindle of lathe. The room is flank
ed all about with racks full of carving
tools. The dealer goes to q large cab
met of drawers full of dull-looking
Jumps of amber and he explains that
no product is more variable in price.
One lot which he shows you was pur-
chased for dollar a pound, while an
other, which looks little better to
your Impractical eye, cost $50. 1t is
In selecting as well as the economical
cutting of his amber that the success
full dealer makes bis money. A pound
of amber, carefully cut, frequently
yields not over three and q half ounces
of marketable goods, and the loss in
cutting is always over rs per cent.
The dealer selects a promising piece OF
amber, starts delicate little circular
saw and cuts it in two. Then he takes
one OF the sections, places it endwlse
on g. little block of boxwoOd, Sc
lects q curious and rather clumsy
looking iron toolsomewnat resemb bling
stonecutter' chisel from the rack,
and cuts the amber with down
ward push of the implement. Nearly
every piece of amber has specks and
flaws, and to cut it so as to remove
proper size and shape requires the ut
fashions the piece into pipe mouth
piece he tells you what he has learned
about amber. He says: "It is full Of
electricity, and / suppose that is why
some of the ancient philosophers be.
heve it to be possessed of q soul.
myself believe that it has curative
properties. We take the smaller frag-
Elents and make them into beads,
which we sell at from $1.5O to $12 g.
set. They are worn by many people
as preventive of sorethroat. /
have known men to wear them. The
most of our amber comes from a mine
in Prussia on the Baltic coast. Some
is fshed out of the sea near Dantzig.
Some amber has been found at Gay
Head, at Martha's Vineyard, and at
Cape Sable, in this country. Then
something so closely resembling amber
that it is called false amber is found in
India. 1t goes to China and is highly
priced for ornaments. If you 60 over
on Mott Street you will see the Chinese
dudes wearing bracelets made of it.
The Mohemmedans take more amber
than any other people. Amber is
designated as clear, cloudy or milky.
The Mohammedans and the Ameri-
cans, who are good judges, prefer the
milky variety. In Hungary they ike
best the clear or transparent. The
American has a reason for liking
milky amber. Now, here is what
looks like q cigar holder of transpar-
ent amber, but it isn't amber at all.
1t is made OF gum copal. It isn't easy
to initiate the milky amber, and that
is why it is preferred by many"
AS the dealer talked he had grad
ually fashioned the mouthpiece to
the required shape. He put it into q
lathe-like machine and performed the
delicate operation of drilling q hole
through it and cutting thread on it
by which it was to be attached to the
pipe stem. Then it was polished.
The operation lasted about an hour.
The dealer said that piece of amber
weighing two and a. half pounds is a
rarity, and that the largest lump ever
discovered was of thirteen and g. half
pounds weight. It's use is increasing
every year. Whenever an amber cut
ter begins work on g. transparent
piece he always loks in it for an insect
or a drop of water. If he is lucky
enough to find such a curiosity he
tor or q college museum for hand
some sum. The insects which became
Embedded ages ago in the soft tree
gum which gradually hardened and
found a place in the ground as amber
are subjects of careful study by nat
uralists. Not long ago g. college pur-
chased in Europe two large transpar-
ent specimens, in the center Of each of
which was perfect fly. They were high
~ priced until it was discovered that
they were made of gum copal, and
that the insects were house flies of late
date. To find a piece of amber with a
drop of water in it is considered the
greatest of good fortune, and a small
piece will bring $50 or more.
The rage in New York for large hair
ornaments has given an impetus to
the amber trade, and one carver in
the dealers shop has fashioned large
piece into an deliberately carved